Breakers Collection Review

Breakers and Breakers Revenge are competitive fighting games that were released in 1996 and 1998 respectively for the Neo Geo console. QuByte under licence from Visco Games has compiled these titles into Breakers Collection releasing onto the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and the PC. Growing up, I never had a Neo Geo console or knew anyone who did own one. They were quite expensive, so a lot of people missed out on all the cool titles that were released on it. I am excited to try out other ‘90s fighting games that aren’t Street Fighter.

The main menu offers Game Selection — Breakers or Breakers Revenge, Online Mode, Options, and Extras (Gallery, Sound Test, Interview). If you want to play online, Breakers Revenge is the only title that offers this, which is fine since it offers more characters and stages. Once you select the game you want to play, you choose what kind of fighting mode you want to participate in.

Breakers offers three different modes to select from: 

• Arcade — fight against every character, and once you win two out of three rounds you move onto a different stage and fight against a new opponent. A summary screen will be displayed that shows Life (how much health you have remaining), Time (amount of time for the battle), Victory (a bonus for winning). If you lose two out of three, there is a 10-second countdown where you can hit start and continue; you do not have to continue playing as the same fighter, the game lets you select someone different to play as if you wish, and you will continue on the same fight pacing that same opponent. If you happen to fight against the same character you are playing as the game gives them a different name and changes their colours to make it easy to distinguish between the two.

• Versus — battle with a friend locally or against the CPU. You can set the timer speed, the requirements for winning can select between first to one, two, or three (the default), the difficulty level, and the CPU level between one and ten. After these settings are chosen you select from nine different stages the one you want to fight at. 

• Team Battle — you can fight with multiple fighters in both Arcade and Versus Mode. The Team Size can be either two or three fighters. When your one character is defeated, you will play as your next character in the next round. Your opponent's health bar will still be at the level it was when you were defeated, so you don’t have to worry about them having max health.

Breakers Revenge offers a couple of other modes, not available in the original:

• Online Mode — allows players to play online against other opponents in a specific region or around the world. This isn’t restricted to only other PC players but Crossplay is an option that you can select to face opponents no matter the console they are using. There are both ranked and casual modes you fan fight in depending on your competitive nature. Breakers Revenge also lets you select if your opponent is around the same level as you or stronger. So, whatever parameters you want to select, you are sure to find a match to play.

• Training Mode — you will fight an opponent of your choice and keep hitting them until you are content. The move list for your character is displayed on screen, so try out all the different combos of both light and hard punches and kicks to find what works best for you. 

Once you decide on a mode, you are taken to the character select screen. You have 20 seconds to select which of the eight fighters you want to play as: Tia, Sho, Dao Lao, Maherl, Bai-Hu, Rila, Pielle, Alsion III. Pielle reminds me of Wesley in Princess Bride with this eye mask, blonde hair, little moustache, and sword. Breakers Revenge adds in two new characters — Saizo (the ninja) and Bai-Hu (he is only available to select in the training mode and will have to be unlocked to use in regular play.) Each character has their own unique moves and special attacks that they can perform. If you are playing Breakers, while in battle, if you pause the game you can get to a Button Configuration menu. Here you can switch up the buttons assigned to each attack. This was the easiest way to learn, especially since the first game doesn’t have a training mode. A gauge fills at the bottom of the screen rewarding you for great defensive and offensive moves. There are three levels and when each bar fills you will earn a super move. If you fill the third bar it says maximum at this point you can unleash a massive attack. 

Breakers Collection is a vibrant and pixel-perfect ‘90s 2D fighter. I never realised that games on the Neo Geo looked this good! The game lets you customise how the fight screen is displayed. The default setting is Type 1 where the “box” that you are fighting in has an even border around it showing a background that can either be black or one of the four available wallpapers. Type 2 increases the box to as big as can fit on your monitor or TV screen, there will only be space in the sides. Type 3 stretches it out to full screen but then everything is distorted. In this menu, you can also change the screen filter type so you can keep it pixelated as it was in the arcade, smooth when the crisp lines are “smoothed” out, but I found that this just makes everything look blurry and out-of-focus. Or if you really like the classic retro look select CRT where the screen where the battle is happening looks like an old television screen with its rounded sides and scanlines appear. The music and accompanying sound effects are alright, they get the job done. Though I’m not sure why some of the characters make an odd sound like a donkey during a battle.

Breakers Collection is quite simplistic and doesn’t have too much of a story. You are participating in the Fighting Instinct Tournament (F.I.S.T. they call it, but what the S stands for I’m not too sure). Like many other fighting titles, this deadly tournament is hosted by a mysterious figure whose identity is unknown. The winner will face off against this mystery person and win tons of riches, each fighter having their own reason to face off against them.

If you are a fan of the more simple 2D fighting games that were released in the ‘90s Breakers Collection is an interesting addition to the genre. There were a lot of not-so-great forgettable fighting titles released at this time, and although the Breakers games were released a little too late compared to other titles, it’s quite good. Fans of brawlers like Street Fighter II are sure to have fun with this game, just don’t expect an original story. Breakers Collection looks great and is sure to offer a lot of fun for players playing on their own or against others.